Spain to stem illegal migration by recruiting abroad

Spain is to hire 180,000 immigrants in their countries of origin next year in an effort to stem illegal immigration while satisfying its demand for cheap labour. But just 75 people will be recruited from Senegal, from where thousands of migrants set sail this year in packed wooden fishing boats for the Canary Islands - many drowning in the attempt.

The workers - destined for jobs Spaniards snub, such as grape harvesting, waiting at table or construction - will be interviewed and trained in their home countries, a ministry spokeswoman told the Guardian yesterday.

As many as 6,000 sub-Saharan Africans might have died this year during the journey to the Canary Islands, an island immigration official, Froilán Rodríguez, said this week. Rescue workers had recovered 800 bodies washed ashore since January, he said. More than 30,000 are estimated to have survived the journey of up to 1,250 miles to reach the islands, more than six times as many as in 2005.

"Every time a fishing boat reaches shore I'm glad because it means they didn't drown on the way," José Segura, a central government representative for the Canary Islands, told reporters.

The spectacle of bedraggled migrants washing ashore on tourist beaches is the most visible sign of a decade-long surge in immigration in Spain. As many as 3 million people have immigrated legally in the past six years, but many others have entered the country via criminals and often end up in prostitution or on the streets.

Business leaders have long urged the government to allow hiring abroad. One study said immigration accounted for as much as 50% of the growth in Spain's GNP during the past five years. Pedro Mielgo, president of the committee on immigration for the Circulo de Empresarios, a round table of Spanish executives, told the Guardian: "It's good for everyone. The workers can avoid the mafias and businesses can help them look for housing. The businesses have an easier time finding the people with the right profile."

Mr Mielgo said much recruiting would probably be done in Morocco, where 1,000 Spanish businesses are located. But he said it was hard to make a case for recruiting in sub-Saharan Africa. "It's much further, integration is more difficult and businesses want the easiest solution," he said.